Moscow, June 14, 2017
Photo: PrimaMedia.ru A monument to Royal Martyr Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar, was vandalized in Vladivostok on June 11. The unknown criminals defaced the monument with green paint at night, reports PrimaMedia.ru.
The local faithful, unable to bear the affront to the beloved saint, came out to clean the monument, according to Igor Nikonov, the leader of the local branch of the Autocratic Russia Party who initiated the installation of the monument, which stands on the grounds of the Holy Protection Cathedral in the center of the city.
The unveiling of the monument was timed to mark the 125th anniversary of a visit by then-Tsarevich Nicholas to the city from May 11-21, 1891, after returning from his journey to Asia in 1890–91, during which an assassination attempt was made on Russia's future emperor in Otsu, Japan on April 29/May 11, 1891.
The official opening and consecration of the monument took place on December 19, the feast day of St. Nicholas—the heavenly patron St. Tsar Nicholas.
Photo: PrimaMedia.ru The appearance of the monument in Pokrovsky Park caused a heated debate among the local community, some thinking a short visit from a Crown Prince unworthy of a monument. Proponents of its installation pointed out that the city’s Partisan Avenue was initially named for the tsar, precisely in honor of his visit to the city. Other opponents simply found the bust unsightly.
Although Tsarevich Nicholas II was able to make only a short visit to Vladivostok, in that time he left a significant mark on the history of the city and the region, laying the beginning of the Trans-Siberian railway, the railway station building, a monument to the Russian navigator Admiral Nevelskoy, and the Dalzavod dry dock. He also visited Vladivostok Fortress, the Museum for the Study of the Amur Region, the female college and the male prep school. The Ussuri Railway was also finished under his direction. Most of these events are memorialized on the monument.
